Sick as a Parrot
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Another one of my Animagus stories. Ten-year-old Harry accidentally changes into a parrot, just in time to receive his Hogwarts letter. Completely AU, partly OOC, sick Harry and probably Severus, not sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Sick as a Parrot**

**Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful summer day at Little Whinging. Harry had spent the whole day in the garden, feverishly doing his chores in order to finish everything before his uncle came back from work. However, late in the afternoon, Dudley and his friends, whose favourite game was 'Harry Hunting', showed up and pursued him out of the garden and to the nearby park.

"Run away, Potter, run to your mummy. Where is your mummy?" Dudley shouted as he and his friends chased ten-year old Harry through the park.

Harry ran as fast as he could, afraid of what Dudley and his friends might do to him if they caught him. '_I can't breathe anymore; if I could only fly_,' he thought, panicking, and suddenly felt himself get away from his cousin's gang, higher and higher into the sky, until he came to sit on the branch of a tree in exhaustion.

'_What happened_?' he mused, terrified, noticing in surprise that his field of view had enlarged greatly. He hesitantly took a look at his body, seeing grey feathers all over his... '_wing_?' he thought in disbelief as realisation set in. '_I am a bird_!'

He instinctively began to clean his longer wing feathers with his beak, noticing excitedly that his tail feathers held a beautiful red colour. '_I'm a parrot! That's so cool. Now I don't have to go home ever again. I'll find something to eat outside somewhere, and I can sleep in a tree_.' He curiously glanced around, realising in relief that Dudley and his friends hadn't noticed what had happened to him and seemed to have trolled off. He flapped his wings and took off into the air, realising it wasn't easy to keep his balance. Carefully flying down to a lower branch, he practised a little more right above the ground. Only when the sky began to darken, he made his way back to the Dursleys' garden, resolving to spend in the night in the huge tree behind the garage.

HP

Harry spent two days and three nights on the tree, practising to walk and fly around the Dursleys' garden from time to time until he was sure he could keep his balance on his two feet and in the air. '_It's a bit boring here. Maybe I should fly away and explore some other place_,' he mused, just as an older barn owl took a seat on the branch next to him.

"Hello little one, may I ask you something?" the bird queried, looking at him in expectation.

"Of course," Harry replied, finding his voice come out as a croak.

"I'm looking for a boy called 'Harry Potter.' I have to deliver his Hogwarts letter. Professor McGonagall already sent two owls out, but apparently, he didn't receive their letters. Can you help me?" the owl trilled.

"I am Harry Potter," Harry replied in disbelief. "I don't know why I'm a parrot now though, and I've never received a letter before. Are you really sure that you mean me?"

"You must be an Animagus; I know someone else at the school where I live, who can change into a bird. Very well, then this letter is yours. Shall I help you open it?" the owl asked kindly, causing Harry to eagerly nod his head.

Harry glanced at the envelope.

_Mr. Harry Potter  
The Tree behind the Garage  
4, Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey_

Apparently used to the procedure, the owl used her beak and feet to take a parchment out of the envelope, handing the letter to Harry, who took it in his right feet, glad he had practised keeping his balance on his left foot only as it was more comfortable to sleep on one foot.

His emerald green eyes widened as he read the letter. '_They want me to come to a magical school? That's absolutely cool. Oh, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, I'm on my way_,' he thought, even if a small voice at the back of his mind told him, '_They can't mean you. You're only a freak and a burden_.'

"Are you going back to that school? What was it? 'Hogwarts'?" he asked the owl.

"Yes, I live there together with many other owls. We're responsible for delivering the post. Do you want to come with me?"

"I'd love to come. Are you sure the letter is addressed to me though? I'm only Harry, nothing special, and this school seems very special."

"Your name and address is correct, isn't it?" Seeing Harry nod, the owl continued, "And the fact that you're an Animagus proves that you're a wizard. Yes, the letter is yours. Now, shall we take off?"

"That would be great. I can't fly very well though, because I only became a parrot two or three days ago," Harry replied hesitantly.

"Well, we'll take our time. Come on, let's go."

The two birds took to the air. To Harry's amazement, the owl knew exactly in which direction they had to fly, although the landscape looked very similar to him. 'Owls must be amazing birds,' he mused as he hurried to keep up with the owl's pace, even if the owl was extremely gentle and was very considerate of him. They always flew as long as Harry could keep himself in the air, before they rested for a while on the next best tree.

On the tenth day of flying, the owl finally told Harry, "It's not far anymore. Look, over there you can already see the roofs of the castle. That's Hogwarts. However, you look as if you needed a break first."

"Thank you," Harry replied gratefully as he let himself sink onto a low branch in absolute exhaustion, not even noticing that it was raining cats and dogs.

"You need to flap your wings from time to time so you won't get drenched; otherwise, you'll catch a cold," the owl instructed him gently, but Harry felt too weak to even make the slightest move. He slept through until the first rays of the early morning sun tickled his face.

'_Oh, the castle looks beautiful_,' Harry thought as he dragged himself towards the huge building, feeling completely worn out, cold, and somehow sore all over his body.

"I'll take you to Professor McGonagall," the owl informed him, leading him to a window sill in a height that made Harry shiver in anxiousness. He sat next to the owl on the window sill, fluffing up his feathers against the cold morning air, and waited patiently until an elder woman opened the window to let them in.

_

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_

_tbc... (if you want me to)_

_Sorry, but I might not be able to post a lot during the next days due to health problems (still/again...). So far, I could post chapters, which I had already written, but I only have a few left. I'll begin writing again as soon as I can. Just so you know I haven't given up writing, and I will not give up any of my unfinished stories!_

_I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sick as a Parrot – Chapter 2**

The elder woman thanked the owl as she took the parchment from her feet and gave her an owl treat, before she looked at the letter, gasping. "What does this mean? Did you not hand the letter to Harry Potter?"

"I am Harry Potter," Harry croaked, flapping his wings to suppress a shiver.

"YOU are Harry Potter?" the woman queried, dismissing the owl. "What does this mean? Why are you a parrot, Harry? I am Professor McGonagall, by the way. Come, sit here on my desk and tell me everything from the beginning, please."

Harry flew down to the desk and took a seat, throwing the woman a terrified look as a huge yawn escaped his beak.

"Excuse me, Madame. I don't know what happened, but a few weeks ago, I was running away from my cousin and his gang, and I ended up as a parrot, so I could fly on a tree, where they couldn't catch me," Harry explained hesitantly. "Only a few days later, the owl came and brought me your letter, so I just came here with her." He once more fluffed his feathers up as a small shiver shook his body.

"You're a beautiful grey parrot. You must be a natural Animagus," McGonagall said, appraisingly. "Can you change back into your human form?" she then queried, giving the parrot a sharp look.

"No," Harry replied firmly. "It's much nicer to be a bird. As a human, I never received a letter, and I never met anyone as kind as you and the owl."

"What about your relatives?" McGonagall asked in surprise, causing Harry to shake his head.

"So, what am I going to do with you? Seeing you came here together with your letter, I assume you want to attend Hogwarts from September onwards. However, you have to be back to your human form by then."

"Yes," Harry replied in a hardly audible voice.

"Thank God you're at least a parrot and able to speak," the professor sighed. "Well, let's go to the Great Hall for breakfast. I'll introduce you to my colleagues, and we'll see what we're going to do with you until school commences. Normally, students are not allowed to stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays."

"Please don't send me back to my relatives. I can stay out in the forest. I just don't know when to come back," Harry replied, panicking.

"Don't worry, sweetie. As long as you're in your parrot form, you can always stay with me as my familiar. My colleagues will all keep quiet about it, and the Headmaster isn't here today, so he won't know. Well, step onto my hand, and I'll take you with me."

Harry hesitantly stepped onto the kind woman's index finger, slightly shivering at the cold touch to his feet.

"Harry, are you feeling ill? Your feet are very hot," the professor asked in concern, giving the fluffed up bird a piercing look.

"It's nothing," Harry replied, "I'm only tired from the long flight." '_I'm really feeling ill, but I can't tell the professor; otherwise, she'd throw me out immediately_,' he mused as he felt himself being carried out of the office. He hesitantly stepped up the professor's arm until he came to sit on her shoulder. Closing his achy eyes, his foggy mind barely registered they were descending many stairs and finally entered a huge hall.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

McGonagall took her usual seat at the Head table, noticing in surprise that Hagrid was present additionally to the other three Heads of House and Poppy.

"Good morning," she said, throwing the half giant a questioning look. "How nice of you to join us on this fine morning, Hagrid."

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall. One of the school owls informed me about your new parrot familiar," Hagrid replied in his deep voice, curiously looking at Harry.

"You have a familiar?" Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey asked simultaneously, disbelief clearly written on their faces.

"Well, to tell you the truth..." McGonagall begun but was interrupted by Hagrid.

"The bird seems to be ill. No healthy parrot would sleep with his head forward and on both feet, moreover with his feathers fluffed up like that."

"I trust you can keep this for you and not reveal to Albus," McGonagall continued, worriedly taking the parrot back onto her index finger, holding him in front of her face, "but this is Harry Potter in his Animagus form."

Ignoring her colleagues' multiple gasp, she turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Poppy, are you able to cast diagnostic spells on birds?"

"It should be possible," Hagrid threw in. "I can even take a bird's temperature with my... err..." He suddenly ended up in a coughing fit, quickly hiding his umbrella under the table, and everyone looked at the Mediwitch in expectation.

"Well, let me try," Madam Pomfrey said thoughtfully, waving her wand at the bird on her colleague's hand.

"If this is Harry bloody Potter, why can't he just transform back, so Poppy can properly cast her spells?" Professor Snape sneered, glancing at the bird in obvious disgust.

"Hagrid, he has a temperature of thirty-seven point eight. Is that normal for parrots?" Pomfrey queried, casting another spell at the bird.

"That's much too low, Poppy. A parrot's normal body temperature lies between thirty-nine and forty-one degrees. He is in dire need of an infrared therapy in order to restore his body temperature," Hagrid replied worriedly. "Take him back to your quarters. I'll bring you a lamp for the therapy. I'd take him in, but I'll be away to accompany the Muggle first-years from today onwards."

"Minerva, I'll come with you," Pomfrey said calmly. "I believe he merely has a bad cold, but I'm not sure, because my spells don't seem to work properly. Would it be an option to transfigure him back?"

McGonagall sighed. "Harry," she said gently, softly petting the bird's head feathers. "You're ill, sweetie, and we could help you so much better, if you transformed back into your human form or allowed me to change you back."

"No," Harry replied weakly, letting out a series of sneezes.

Back in her office, the professor set up a perch for him, and the large man brought an infrared light. Harry sighed in relief as he felt the warm rays touch his body. '_The warmth feels good, although I still feel like crap_,' he mused, while Hagrid told the two women he had asked someone to brew something for his cold. He drifted in and out of sleep until suddenly a tall man stood in front of his perch, holding out a small glass for him.

"Professor Snape brewed a potion for you, Harry. Drink it; it will make you feel much better," Professor McGonagall explained gently, causing Harry to try and finally sip the whole liquid out of the glass, shuddering at the foul taste.

"You cannot expect potions to taste well," the man sneered, giving him a disgusted look.

"But it helped a lot; thank you so much," parrot Harry croaked, raising one foot to step onto the man's hand. '_He smells so well, and he has something of a bird_,' he thought as suddenly his parrot's instincts took over.

Snape threw the parrot a terrified look as the bird suddenly stepped onto his arm and walked up to his shoulder, making itself comfortable in the strands of his long hair.

"What do you think you're doing?" he queried; however, the bird had turned its head towards its back and was obviously comfortable enough to take a nap on his shoulder. The Potions Master threw his older colleague a terrified look, glancing at the parrot in absolute disbelief.

"Why Severus, he obviously has taken a liking to you," McGonagall said, chuckling. "If I think about it, it'll be much easier to make Albus believe the parrot was your familiar than mine. I'll ask the house-elves to install a second perch in your quarters. Take the infrared light with you please."

"Minerva!" Snape replied, horrified. "Don't even think about it. Now, if you could take this feathered rag off my shoulder please; I have a meeting with Poppy about the potions she wants me to brew."

"I'm sorry, Severus, but the parrot obviously chose to become your familiar. Considering that you're a raven Animagus, I'm sure you'll get along well. Please take good care of him. I'll leave the perch here for him, so he can come and visit me at any time."

Snape sighed. "The final word has not been spoken on this matter," he growled as he hurriedly left the room with the sleeping parrot on his shoulder.

_

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tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your many kind reviews – my muse appreciates them very much! I hope you liked this chapter as well :-)  
_

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes – or tell me, so that I can correct them!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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